 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reacts after losing a point to Jeremy Chardy during the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ont., Aug. 8, 2012. (MIKE CASSESE/Reuters) |
TORONTO - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looked like he needed a nap.
But it was hard to blame the guy for being more than a little gassed en route to a 6-4, 7-6(4) loss Wednesday to fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy at the Rogers Cup.
After all, he was coming off an extra-long work week at the London Olympics, where he reached the quarterfinals in the singles draw and lost the gold-medal match in the men's doubles.
"I didn't have enough energy to move well," Tsonga, the third seed, admitted after being upset by Chardy. "I mean, I played 287 games last week (then) I took the plane (to Toronto). There is a jet lag and that's it. I mean, it's not enough (time) to recover."
Tsonga's math was off a little bit, although he laughingly blamed someone else in his camp for the addition. He sold himself short by four games.
"That's why I said 287, because I didn't count it," he said with a laugh. "So I don't know. Maybe it's 50 only."
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All told, Tsonga played 291 games in London, including a whopping 69 in an epic second-round win over Canadian star Milos Raonic. Throw in a 53-game match in doubles -- he and partner Michael Llodra beat Spain's David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez in the Olympic semifinals -- and it's easy to see why Tsonga probably would have preferred to catch a few Zs.
The good news is he'll be able to sleep in Thursday.